The Reference 1527 is the most expensive wristwatch by Patek Philippe ever sold on auction, but it is only upon a closer look when it reveals exactly why it managed to fetch such a stratospheric price. First of all, there is the time when it was made: between 1943 and 1944. It is not merely the fact that the watch was produced during the second World War, but also that this particular one of a kind piece served as a fore-runner to some of the most iconic wristwatches that Patek Philippe has made ever since. For the knowledgable Patek collector, this piece is a time machine: its elongated and slightly curved lugs, its dial layout and its unusually large diameter for the time of 37.6 mm all preceded other famous Patek references by at least a decade. Furthermore, the overall design and size of this one-of-a-kind piece remains timelessly elegant even 70 years after its creation.
This piece was first available for sale more than twenty years ago when it was listed for auction. It had been locked away until it came up for auction at Christie's in 2010. It required great efforts from archivists to further research the past of this piece, as when it was first sold around 1990, there was not much known about it. Ultimately, thanks to the archives of Patek Philippe, it was revealed that it was a perpetual calendar in a reference 1527 case and as such, among the two complicated iterations of this model number ever made by the manufacture. The other piece lacked the chronograph function and belonged to Charles Stern, the first owner of Patek from the Stern family. The other piece is this unique 1527, which not only proved to be the most complicated piece of this reference, but also a time machine that preceded some of Patek's most famous wristwatches by decades.